A.G. Gancarski
In the wake of Hurricane Debby, one Florida Senator’s bill may offer some offsets from spikes in insurance premiums.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s Homeowners Premium Tax Reduction Act would offer, per his office, an above-the-line tax deduction of up to $10,000 of insurance premiums at homesteaded properties.
The Senator notes that “soaring property insurance costs” are part of why the “dream of homeownership is out of reach” for many.
“While the business of property insurance is handled by the states, there is one thing the federal government can do to help lower costs for families. My new legislation, the Homeowners Premium Tax Reduction Act, will provide direct relief for families in Florida and across the nation with a deduction of up to $10,000 in homeowners insurance premiums paid on their primary residence,” Scott said.
Earlier this year, the Senator introduced parallel legislation (S.4143) to amend the tax code to provide an above-the-line deduction for flood insurance premiums.
Scott has sounded the alarm about insurance costs previously, which have spiked under the administration of his successor as Governor, Ron DeSantis.
In a 2023 call with supporters, Scott said that high rates are “bankrupting the state.”
He urged depopulation of Citizens Property Insurance, the state’s last-resort insurer.
Scott also called the state’s insurance marketplace a “disaster” in 2023, saying the departure of Farmers Insurance was a “wake-up call” to the state.
13 comments
PeterH
August 7, 2024 at 6:21 pm
As reported in a July 28, 2024 Sun Sentinel article on this home owner insurance topic, Citizens Property Insurance Corp and Slide Insurance are playing a Florida government endorsed shell game with homeowners. Slide Insurance lines the pockets of our Florida representatives in the form of campaign kickbacks for politicians silence to address the rising costs of homeowners insurance.
The scam is just another example of the kind of grift that’s rife in florida, that places florida homeowners in precarious financial positions daily, and that the republican-dominated state legislature continues to demonstrate is unable and/or unwilling to address.
The Sun Sentinel article offers a glimpse into the homeowners insurance mess in florida, one which gets a lot of attention and hand-wringing by Republican elected officials but which none of them is capable of solving. the reason? because the leaders, including the ceo, board of 77 governors, and exposure reduction committee of citizens, up to the florida chief financial officer, commissioner and directors of the florida state office of insurance regulation, florida senate banking and insurance committee, and other republican-held positions – who are tasked with improving the conundrum for florida homeowners – are actually on the take by insurers who are orchestrating the insurance rape of homeowners.
In closing, forcing the American taxpayer to subsidize the Florida insurance scam will not fix the problem. Insurers will use the opportunity to raise rates so they can offer more “contributions” to our Republican grifters who benefit from this ongoing scam.
Michael K
August 7, 2024 at 7:42 pm
As you often say:
Republicans are America’s worst enemy!
Vote all Republicans out of office!
Susan
August 10, 2024 at 12:42 pm
Only wealthy people can afford to live in Florida if this representation continues by our public servants. People will not continue to move to Florida and others will be exiting for affordable states. Perhaps the wealthy will not have people to
Support their needs.
MH/Duuuval
August 7, 2024 at 9:00 pm
A tax reduction for flood insurance coverage is a more modest idea that would have a positive effect on flood insurance payments made by homeowners and enable more homeowners to afford flood insurance, which is separate from homeowners coverage.
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Frankie M.
August 7, 2024 at 9:50 pm
Maybe the feds can do something because the state legislature have their heads up their 5th point of contact.
Tom Scott
August 8, 2024 at 2:07 pm
A $10,000 insurance premium means that the property is worth a $Million. Leave it to Rick to think of the Millionaires
Susan
August 8, 2024 at 5:19 pm
Not true. Ours is $5000 and our home value barely $275k. It’s killing people in modest older homes. Which there are a ton of. Our neighbor’s house is valued close to $800k. It is 2.5x bigger with a guest house. Their insurance is Citizens (which they should not be allowed to use since their house is way overvalued) and they pay less than half what we do for that policy. Our small home, bought at the same time, which we updated with a brand new roof and all new systems, values around $275k, but we pay 2x insurance. Because Citizens didn’t want us because we could get a private policy. The homes date from the same era bought same time. No significant differences. Except theirs is 20 years older and much larger. Our systems and roof are brand new. The house is built like a tank. There is just zero logic in any of this. And yes we have shopped it and done all we can do. I think this should paint an example.
stAugJeff
August 8, 2024 at 2:45 pm
Please note that unless you exceed the standard deduction you will never take this deduction.. it is not a credit..
JJ Evans
August 9, 2024 at 5:44 am
Republicans have only the most facile of solutions for any problem (build a wall!) and are incapable of seeing first or second order consequences of those solutions. Now, let me see, if I’m an insurance company, knowing that homeowners get a $10,000 above the line deduction for insurance, what do you think I’m going to do? All this “solution” does is raise rates even higher, funnel more money into the already stuffed pockets of insurance companies, and allows them to spend even more money lining Congressional pockets to lobby against homeowners’ best interests.
Amelia
August 9, 2024 at 6:44 pm
Great update! The blog on Rick Scott pushing for a tax break for homeowners’ insurance highlights a significant development in policy advocacy. It’s promising to see efforts aimed at easing the financial burden on homeowners. Thanks for keeping us informed about this important issue!
Susan E stevens
August 10, 2024 at 12:36 pm
If our current Governor and senators want to continue in power, they need to supply relief to lower and middle-income constituents.
MH/Duuuval
August 10, 2024 at 12:57 pm
The emerging effects of climate warming may make this whole discussion moot, regardless of the evolution of your house.
tom palmer
August 10, 2024 at 3:15 pm
The one caution on further subsidizing flood insurance is that it may encourage some people to build in or move to properties that are flood-prone., which is bad for homeowners and the environment
Comments are closed.